LANDWISE NFM: How soil management and land use affects soil properties and flood risk: Results from the broad-scale and detailed field surveys

Summary of findings so far • Management of near surface soil properties and preferential flow pathways is important so that deeper soil water storage is available and accessible. • Land use and management practices can significantly enhance soil physical and hydrological/hydraulic properties and flood mitigation potential • Increasing organic matter content increases soil porosity, creating more soil water storage and potential to mitigate flooding. • Fields with ‘low’ starting organic matter content can greatly improve soil porosity therefore soil water storage with relatively modest organic matter increases. • Organic additions are not the only way to improve soil structure, innovative management practices (e.g. controlled traffic and min till) also improve soil structure, saturated hydraulic conductivity and therefore NFM potential. • Mature woodland has the highest organic matter content, soil porosity, saturated hydraulic conductivity and NFM potential relative to arable and grass land use. • Effects of arable rotations and inclusion of grass in rotations are being investigated.